Tegalalang Rice Terrace

Early one morning in Ubud, we set out with our tour guide to visit the famous Tegalalang Rice Terrace on our way north to Sekumpul waterfall. The rice terrace has been featured over and over on Instagram, so we decided to go explore for ourselves.

Honestly, it was not what I expected. The terrace is not out in the middle of the country as it typically appears. Instead it is accessible directly from the highway. We simply pulled over and parked on a busy street, and started our descent down some stone steps into the terrace.

It was completely free to enter (at least for us) and no sign greeted us with any pomp or circumstance. Our tour guide did not even go with us into the terrace. There is actually a collection of shops and homes on the street side of the terrace (where the Love Bali sign can be found), so unsurprisingly there were some young kids looking to take you around in exchange for a tip.

What the terrace did live up to is its zen vibe. If you come early, Tegalalang Rice Terrace is an absolutely beautiful and peaceful (save for street noise) place to wander around for an hour or so and clear your mind. As we were leaving around 9:00 AM, many tourists were already arriving, and our tour guide said that by noon the place is packed. So get there early, bring your camera, and you should have a nice time in one Bali's most popular spots.